The winter is slowly showing signs of it’s departure down here in the South. On good occasions, like this past week, the only remnants of its presence comes to us in chilly breezes, accompanied by those blazing orange sunsets around 6 o’clock in the evenings. Signs of spring have been discovered, if you look close enough, in the little weeds that peek through the grass and in the flowering pear trees that have been so eager to showcase it’s white visage around town.

I’ve been spending a bit more time in the backyard lately after work, enjoying the company of a family of stray kittens. The mother had been coming to the house during the winter last year and when she disappeared and came back with a smaller belly sometime after Christmas, I thought for sure the babies could not have survived the cold for too long. My brother found them mewing away in between our backyard fence and the neighbor’s right under our staggering orange tree. It turns out that she had been nursing her family of five in this little nook for a few weeks now. We took them out and put them in a little carrier and now they are  living under our pepper bush by the window. The kittens are slowing getting used to their new patch of land and my presence as I was able to get quite a handful of decent shots of them lounging around. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find them all a good home soon. If you are in the Houston area and looking for kittens, let me know!

Even though I’m off for an entire week for Thanksgiving break, I still feel like I’m constantly in teaching mode.  I drove around to various nurseries today in search of cacti for upcoming Rodeo drawing projects when school commences again. (Surprisingly enough, Home Depot carries the cheapest and has a wider selection of cacti to choose from) And sure, it probably would have been more economical in the long run and less stressful to purchase a few fake cactus plants, but I think the real ones are so much more tactile and beautiful to look at, especially the ones with those vibrant flowers. If anything, these plants will make a colorful edition to the classroom. Aaaand, I gotta say, I’m a bit excited to have a few students try and mess with these plants for a change and experience those prickly needles for themselves.

My macrame planter hanger from Myth & Symbol’s workshop last Thursday.

Gardening tip #356: Pour a layer to pebbles or gravel in the pot before adding soil for cacti and succulents. This helps with the drainage and balances out the weight, especially with the more top heavy cactus plants. A porous planter like this terra cotta one will also help to to dry out the soil faster to prevent root rot.

Dad’s pepper tree is overgrowing. The yellow peppers look like giant caterpillars hanging around. :/